Birmingham head coach John Eustace says match-winner Jay Stansfield will be a “really big player” for the club after his wonder goal gave his side a 2-1 win against Plymouth.
On-loan Fulham forward Stansfield, 20, volleyed home from the edge of the box in the fifth minute of time added on for a dream debut for the substitute to make it three wins out of four for Blues.
“Jay is an excellent player and it was an outstanding finish,” said Eustace.
“He comes with a real hunger and a great pedigree and for him to choose to come here over 12 or 13 other Championship clubs is a really massive statement of intent from the club.
“It’s very pleasing he chose to come to us.
“We’ve watched him over the last couple of seasons to see how he’s progressed and developed and he’s going to be a really big player for us.”
Eustace was relieved after Argyle played a full part in the game and looked like earning what would have been a hard-earned point until Stansfield’s wonder goal.
“Plymouth are in a really good moment. They have got really good momentum, they have a fantastic manager who plays the right way and they’re a fantastic footballing team,” he said.
“They did really well when we weren’t at our best and we knew they’d have a lot of the ball.
“It was a real collective performance in a game where we weren’t good with the ball which was disappointing.
“We need to be better when we have the ball but we were always a threat in transition.
“They had a couple of good chances from balls over the top where John Ruddy pulled off a couple of good saves.
“This was our toughest game of the season but we knew that if we defended our box properly then with our pace we had a chance on the turnover.”
Blues led in the eighth minute when Scott Hogan got ahead of Kaine Kesler-Hayden to slide the ball home from close range after the tricky Koji Miyoshi crossed from the left.
Plymouth equalised on the hour when Morgan Whittaker’s curling left-footed shot was saved by John Ruddy and Ryan Hardie reacted quickest to stab home.
Then came Stansfield’s moment of glory. The former Exeter attacker latched onto fellow substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz’s pass before lobbing Lewis Gibson then lashed a volley into the roof of the net to clinch victory.
Plymouth manager Steven Schumacher said: “I was gutted to lose the game in that fashion in the 95th minute again.
“And after what happened last week (Southampton’s Che Adams scored a 90th-minute winner to win 2-1) I’m devastated.
“Again I thought we played really well but I don’t want to keep saying after games that we did great but got beat – that’s doing my head in.
“But it’s part and parcel of football and we’ve got to learn from our mistakes.
“Today I felt we caused our own problems with that goal in the last minute.”
Schumacher felt if Argyle had stuck to their footballing principles they might not have conceded Stansfield’s wonder goal.
“There were 15 seconds to go and we had a throw-in – all day we’d played them short and controlled possession,” he said.
“This time we threw it short then tried a big diagonal pass and it probably wasn’t on.
“If we’d have kept possession and played it into the corner it would have been game over and we’d have gone home with a point.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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